Love Is...

19. A Lie

CHAPTER - 19

LOVE IS... A LIE

'Hate is a four letter word. Love is a four letter lie.'

Day -7

"What did you do then?"

"After the dinner, we went for a stroll and talked about each other. It was a wonderful night, Lia. He is so sweet and attentive. I can't even explain," Steph gushed from the other side of the phone as I picked up a Nutella bottle and placed it in my cart.

A smile covered my face. Of course, Jack as per his previous day name, was very sweet and anybody could enjoy to the fullest in his company. His infectious grin was enough to lighten up the entire town's mood. I felt happy to know that Steph was happy, but again, my mind drifted to the fact that he was probably just a rebound for her and he didn't deserve that. But neither did Steph deserved to be as unhappy as she had been with Shane. She deserved to be happy and she seemed to be smiling a lot since last few days when she met him. "That's great, Steph. So what did you call him during your date?"

"I called him by his name," she said in a 'duh' tone.

I pried again and asked, "And that is?"

"Jack," she answered, making me stop in the middle of the shopping aisle for a short second. "Sweety, I know you are smart and all, but I'm not that stupid too. I told you I'm not supposed to tell you his name."

My shoulders slumped in defeat as my attempt of knowing Ashton's best friend name just went futile. "Good. That's good."

She laughed at my defeated voice. Rolling my eyes at her, I turned towards the aisle of fresh groceries. "You tell me, how was your wedding date with Ashton?"

My cheeks turned red at the mere mention of the wedding that reminded me of the kiss, and I thanked God that she was not in front of me to see the blush on my face. "It was all good," I told her, keeping the information to the minimum.

"Anything special?" she asked and I could literally sense the smirk on her face because of her tone.

Special? I didn't know if it was special or not, but it was unusual. But I decided against telling her about anything related to Ashton, and diverted the topic by answering, "Oh yes! I met Mike."

"Who Mike?" she asked in a confused tone.

I picked up some spinach. Didn't she know Mike? I had met Stephanie in my second year of college where we had same Literature class, but had I never mentioned Mike in front of her? I decided to ask her and clear up my doubts, "You don't know Mike?"

"I know me!" A voice from behind me said, making me jump in surprise.

"Who knows me?" Steph asked, sounding all confused from the other side of the line.

I ignored her and looked up at the person who had said this. I gasped in surprise, "Mike!"

"Who the hell is Mike and how does he know me?" Steph asked again, now in frustration of not knowing something.

"Hey Liana." Mike grinned and came towards me.

"Hey! How are you?" I asked from him, forgetting about my confused friend.

"I'm confused and frustrated," Steph replied, her tone justifying her answer.

At the same time, he replied, "Great."

I grinned and replied to Mike, "That's good to know."

"It's good to know that I'm confused and frustrated? What is wrong with you, Lia? And who is Mike?" she groaned, making me grimace.